Whenever a significant awards ceremony approaches, you'll find a clamor for the addition additional classifications to recognize overlooked contributions and delight the hearts of followers dedicated to specific genres.
A fellow writer made the case advocating for terror-themed awards. That would be fantastic. So would strategy board titles, this being someone's personal cause. However, I must insist when I prioritize because like all blinkered fanatics, I have a cast-iron argument for why my demand stands as crucial and important of all. The demand is this: We need an award type for logic-based games.
The Genre Classification Challenge
Classifying creative works is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and typically spark debates and end in fuzzy definitions. It's understandable that cinema institutions avoid this approach. However, it represents an essential concession within the realm of video games, that demonstrate such variety they barely qualify a single creative category.
To recognize the complete range of achievement in video games to receive acknowledgment, and for games of all stripes to compete fairly, classification by type becomes crucial.
Present Award Structure
Leading game ceremonies presently include genre categories for Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Fighting, Simulation and strategy titles, and Sports/Racing games. Between them, these six categories effectively encompass a lot of ground, allowing placement for numerous titles.
Different situation exists for puzzle games. There’s simply nowhere to accommodate them. Examine these examples from this year’s best games, each quite distinct: structural challenges of one title, fast-paced pattern recognition of another game, engaging interpersonal challenges from additional release. Where could they possibly go among existing types? Unfortunately, nowhere.
The Representation Problem
There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games published annually without proper recognition at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify for categories like Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the intensely contested independent game categories.
- An iconic brain-teaser got overlooked completely during that awards season
- Another imaginative release missed out during that ceremony
- Well-received sorting experience received no acknowledgment that year
- Limited numbers of brain-teasers barely qualified for small studio or handheld classifications
Importance of Logic Titles
Frequently they represent small games, yet the craft of the puzzle game holds tremendous importance. Well-known matching games count as most engaged experiences in the world and have been for over a decade.
The legendary block-stacking game rivals famous sandbox experiences competing to become best-selling game of all time; it also contends as greatest title ever. Logic titles represent cornerstones to the art of video games, while interacting with diverse game types.
The Solution and Justification
Logic titles wouldn't face that issue. You could fill multiple candidates engaging, different, qualified experiences annually without trouble — perhaps, with difficulty, given the need to exclude so many good games out.
To emphasize again, these represent titles that otherwise have no home during prominent ceremonies. Brain-teaser creators function at the demanding boundary interactive creation, creating some of most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Similar to cinema stunt performers, they deserve recognition. We shouldn't delay decades.
